is a jig always a jig?????

okay----i admit it, i am not a huge fan of jigs. i tend to always revert back to the old faithful of a crappie hook and a shiner. but i am smart enough to know that i am probably leaving some fish behind that i could otherwise catch. here is my question:

when is a jig better than a shiner and when i do choose to use a jig, where do i start?? i hear all about hair jigs, then youi have tube jigs, then you have solid body jigs. it's endless. when do yall use a hair jig over a tube jig?? what abouit a tube over hair??

i told mys elf that i was gonna fish more jigs this winter and i want some info.

HELP!!!!!

doc

Well, doc, I prefer "hair" jigs over plastics because I just catch more crappie with them. And I tie them as well and that really does make the catch more gratifying, ESPECIALLY when I often catch MORE crappie with a marabou jig that I made 3 feet away from a fisherman using a minnow and another using a tube. But I also seem to have more confidence in my jigs than anything else, so perhaps that has something to do with my catch, although that's pure speculation. I never fish minnows. Why would I? I catch more with a jig, I don't have to mess with a bucket, stopping to buy minnows, and the rest of the process. So you should just give 'em a try. Don't move em to much, just a little. Try a crappie nibble. Jigs are less expensive as they are around until you either lose them or they fall apart. You have to buy a few dozen minners every time out.

:cool:

Hey Doc,
Are you planning on bringing shiners to the Bone? I wasn't sure how we'd keep them alive the whole time. Maybe we can find some jigs that look just like shiners! Guess we'll figure it out the closer we get.
Scott

My Favorite is Feather and can be either hackle or marabou. I have come to really like rabbit though as it is so much like marabou as for the action; it's great too.

As for when, well in the Spring and Fall I only use jigs and in the summer many time I only use jigs, but sometime I will use both a jig and shiner. I tie on a 1/8 or 1/4 oz. jig on the bottom and a minnow hook about 18" or so above that. One thing you many fine interesting about this is that I probably catch about 80% of the bigger fish on the jig at the bottom.

In the spring I can catch all the crappie I need and more with jig all by them selves and no need to mess with them shiners at all. I mostly lone line troll then and have always had to give away a lot of fish every year and this year I had some from 2006, 2007 and 2008 so the giving had to pick up.

Come on, admit it minnows are a pain in the rear!

Skip

LouisianaFishNut, I learned a neat way to keep minnows alive at crappie camp this year. When you buy them put them in the baggies...you know the ones you get at walmart for fish? Some places package them like this when you buy them. Take an ice chest and put some ice in the bottom of the chest...a couple inches deep...then put a towel over the ice....lay your bags of minnows on top of the towel and close the lid...as long as you keep any dead ones out of your bags they'll live a long time....just a bag or two or whatever you'll need when you leave camp....leave the rest in the ice chest....you won't have any trouble. Also if they do put the little pill in the water or fill the bag with air that helps. Keith "Catfish" Sutton was the one telling us about it...he tried it, just to see how long they would last...well...after months....YES months....they were still alive....and this was in summer. I would try it...ecspecially if your going for the weekend...only way to go...just a tidbit of info to try out. :D

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Originally Posted by docwaldo

i tend to always revert back to the old faithful of a crappie hook and a shiner.

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My dad was a shiner man for years -- until he discovered the jig. After that, he abandoned minnows.

Jigs work for everything, not just crappie. They can be fished at all depths, are inexpensive, and are far less trouble than minnows.

I'd start out with a basic "marabou and chenille jig" and go from there.

I'll PM you some more info.

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Originally Posted by Scrapper

LouisianaFishNut, I learned a neat way to keep minnows alive at crappie camp this year. When you buy them put them in the baggies...you know the ones you get at walmart for fish? Some places package them like this when you buy them. Take an ice chest and put some ice in the bottom of the chest...a couple inches deep...then put a towel over the ice....lay your bags of minnows on top of the towel and close the lid...as long as you keep any dead ones out of your bags they'll live a long time....just a bag or two or whatever you'll need when you leave camp....leave the rest in the ice chest....you won't have any trouble. Also if they do put the little pill in the water or fill the bag with air that helps. Keith "Catfish" Sutton was the one telling us about it...he tried it, just to see how long they would last...well...after months....YES months....they were still alive....and this was in summer. I would try it...ecspecially if your going for the weekend...only way to go...just a tidbit of info to try out. :D

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Months?!?!? Holy Cow Batman! I've released many a minner because I just thought they'd die before the next time I got to go. I appreciate the information!

Yeah at crappie camp I was like...yea...they'll live for a week or so....oh no...they lived a LONG time...I was amazed. :eek: He also did this in the summer time...but they would diffentatly last for a weekend. lol. He used one of the extreme coolers you can get at walmart. The main thing he said was not to let the ice contact the bags...he also said make sure they put the pill or shoot some air into the bags...ice/towel/minnows...and that was it. :D

I dont think jigs are better than live bait, but live bait is not legal here and not always easily available. Lindys quiver jig is very good, to me better than any hair or marobou jig but much more expensive than walmart jigs. Live bait requires much less skill to catch fish, so it can be a crutch.

ok, there is really no reason to stray away from minnows, besides the fact that they can be a pain. they curly tail grubs and sliders etc. can be very effective search tools, and there are times when a jig is more effective. there are different ways to fish jigs, and they really shine where you need something more durable than a minnow. I use hair jigs for verticle and under a float but I usually tip them with a minnow or nibble or gulp product etc. the 1/16 jigs get the minnow. they tiny 1/64 jigs get a peice of gulp maggot. you really need to have an arsenal of jigs in your box to be ready for anything. yes it gets confusing but you will develope your favorites thru use. I know Iv'e contradicted myself here but its like this sometimes I want to cast and move around and sometimes I just want to sit and watch a cork.

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Originally Posted by robbor

Live bait requires much less skill to catch fish

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Gotta disagree with you there. Anybody can toss out a worm under a bobber, but good live bait fishing does require skill. I see bad bait fishing all the time -- huge hooks, heavy lines, bobbers big enough to save a drowning man. :eek: I rarely see the opposite, though.

the best crappie fisherman I know of, fishdoc from eden va. casts 1/32 - 3/32 white buctail jigs no paint and red thread over brushpiles, or the bobby garland baby shad in same weights. when he long line trolls I believe he uses roadrunners with kalin triple threat grubs. when he spider rigs I think he uses soft plastic body jigs with a marabou tail, and tips this with a minnow ( I think ) and when the fish are in the backs of the creeks I think they pull corks behind the boat with jig and minnow. hope I got this info. right. but you hardly ever read where he uses straight minnows. this guy catches thousands of crappie every year and has now started his guide business on kerr lake va.

thanks for all the help guys. it is definitely something to think about. gonna get me some new jigs for next weekend. and yes, lfn, i am bringing shiners to darbonne. not a bunch, but a few. bouit a pound or two of the rosie reds.

doc :)

You let the fish tell you what it wants. If you see their biting jigs fish jigs if it's minnows use minnows. But in the winter jigs work better than minnows most of the time because they don't want to spend the energy to chase minnows. But if you present a jig with a slight twitch about every 5 to 10 seconds in front of there nose they will suck it in so light that you can't feel it . So you have to watch the rod tip or slight movements in you're line.:D